


Reboot Spectrals

by OmenOfTheInnovative



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Blood and Gore, But also might not be, Consensual Possession, Does a number on the poor girl, Dreams and Nightmares, Fuck yeah Rosie's gonna be important, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idk man I'm tired right now, Might be Violentine by the time I'm done with this, Possession, Psychic Abilities, Sophie is here but she's actually a ghost. Spooky, Violet tries to save everyone, Violet's family is a little unhinged, pretty much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23609101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmenOfTheInnovative/pseuds/OmenOfTheInnovative
Summary: Really, Clem should've known Violet was different the moment she heard her screams during the night.Sometimes she'd look at Clementine and furrowed her eyebrows, like she was reading something inked on Clem's skin, only visible to her.The night of the incident with Brody and Marlon was what revealed how different she was.
Relationships: Possible Relationships May Be Added
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Going to rewrite the good old fanfic because I've decided it isn't dead
> 
> MIGHT change the title tho if I'm feeling like it'll fit better

Okay, so.

An introduction to this universe.

There are mediums- individuals with psychic ability, the ghostmancers or what have you. They're called mediums because their defining ability is to become hosts for ghouls and ghosts, but they can also sometimes be able to host living, often unconscious people.

Typically, the medium's most likely to host when they are unconscious or asleep. If they haven't consented to become a host, the event in which they become hosts is called a possession. If consent is given to become a host, resulting events are called summonings.

Mediums can also sometimes see into the future, though the strength of this ability varies from person to person. Additionally, they have a sixth sense, able to read into a different, auric dimension.

This ability is genetic; there's a 50/50 chance for a medium child when one of the parents is a medium. 25% chance if any grandparents are mediums, and can stack to 75% unless the family is full medium. (Or perhaps they should be called media? Probably not.)

So based on this, Violet's backstory on how she got to Ericson has been changed.

I'll do my best to get the first chapter up ASAP.


	2. Oddity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if anyone's particularly out of character
> 
> Besides Violet, because it's Very Intentional

This was the fifth time today Clementine had caught Violet staring at her.

Her eyes were too cold and calculating for her staring to be signs of infatuation, though. She must've been checking on her, as though Clem were bitten by the walkers and she'd turn soon.

Vi was way too scary for Clem to ask why she'd been staring, but maybe Louis knew something about it.

But he didn't.

"Sorry," he had said as soon as she mentioned Violet's odd behavior. They had been sitting on a picnic table, and Louis was shuffling cards. "Been sworn to the grave not to talk about it, and I quite like staying alive, y'know?"

"So you know why she's acting strange." Clementine put her hands on her hips and quirked an eyebrow. "I can't figure it out for the life of me, Louis. I was hoping you could tell me."

"But I can't." Louis insisted, charming smile replaced with an uncharacteristic worried frown. "She's my friend, and I don't even have half a clue what goes on with her, or I'd try to help her in some way."

Clem sighed. "I just think it's weird that she's so... distant." She allowed herself a glance in Violet's direction, but Vi didn't seem to be willing to do anything else besides curl up into herself up on the wall. "She doesn't talk much, but whenever she does..."

"Her words scald your soul?" Louis offered, drumming his fingers on the table. "Don't worry. You've only been here a few days. She'll warm up to you." His gaze also drifted in Vi's direction. "Maybe."

Clem made a noise of disbelief. "Maybe? Is she really that antisocial?" Of course the mysterious, interesting Violet had a chance of never making peace with Clem. "What if she doesn't like AJ?"

"No, I think she's okay with AJ. Said he was a red-dominant type of kid." Louis answered. "No idea what it means, please don't ask." He scrunched his nose up theatrically, and went back to shuffling his cards.

"Well," Clementine said, choosing her words carefully. "I'd guess it means he's a tough little guy."

"You might be right."

So Louis didn't have any answers. Clementine decided to ask Brody about it instead.

"Oh, Violet?"  
"Yes."

They'd been out fishing with Aasim, he was downstream checking the fish traps. Brody was alone with Clem and it was a good opportunity to ask.

Brody paused, spear raised to plunge into the river. "W-we're not really friends, I don't know much about her."

"You do." Clementine said instinctively, stabbing her spear through a fish and dropping it into the bucket. "You had mentioned going out of the school to get some kind of plant."

Brody missed her plunge and groaned. "Now where'd you h-hear that?" She asked, face contorted into anger. "Y-you like eavesdropping?"

"No, I just overheard it during a card game with Lou." Clem answered, watching the fish swim towards where they stood. "Of course, Vi rarely participates in those."

"She usually does, maybe you make h-her uncomfortable." Brody said. She stabbed into the river again and held a fish on the end of the spear.

Clementine also went for a fish and then turned to Brody. "Looks like you want to say something else." She observed, putting her catch into the bucket. "This looks like a good place to stop, though. We have enough."

Brody nodded. "Yeah..." She sighed, then arranged her expression into one of determination. "Violet has a card deck of her own, but she doesn't let anyone see it often."

Clementine wondered how she had coaxed it out of Brody, but it was something. Something useful.

Aasim started approaching them after they'd put away their spears. "Hey. Any luck?"

"Five catches. That's pretty good." Brody said, holding up the bucket. "Traps get anything?"

Aasim's shoulders drooped. "No, looks like they were sabotaged."

"That's weird." Brody murmured. "We might need to report that to Marlon."

Clementine's brain couldn't really wrap around that, though. Somebody sabotaged their traps? It couldn't have been somebody in their group, could it?

She hoped it was just bad luck or something.

Clem decided to focus on Violet instead. Brody didn't deny a conversation about plants, so perhaps she should ask Ruby next.

Inside Ericson's, Clementine could feel somebody's eyes on her, and she only assumed it was Vi.

On the sofa, far out by a campfire, Ruby was sitting down picking leaves from stems, practically dissecting the plants.

"Hey, Clementine. Whatcha up to?" She asked, smiling but mostly focused on her work.

Clem sat down on the love seat beside the sofa, and tried to relax. The presence of eyes on her was quite strong. "Here to talk about plants. Any of them for specific stuff?"

"Didn't know you were a plant person." Ruby chuckled. "I have some sage, rosemary, Passion flower, a few roses. Most of it, though, fights off infection and fever."

"Hm. Why the spices and Passion flowers?"  
"Half of the sage and rosemary is for Omar's cooking; he gets the rest of his spices on missions kind of like the hunting and fishing ones you go on."  
"...The other half?"

"The other half, with the Passion flower and roses..." Ruby's face became solemn. "It's for Violet."

"Didn't know she was 'a plant person,' from your wise words." Clementine said. "What's it all for?"

Ruby shrugged. "Most of it's beyond me, but sometimes she'll go outside the school alone and return with other plants." She then pointed to the pale purple flower on the table. "The Passion flower is an herbal remedy for insomnia, so maybe she uses that to sleep better."

"Wow. It's doing a bang-ass job." Clementine scoffed. Violet's screaming sometimes woke Clem up at night as well. "You can't just give her sleeping pills?"

"C'mon, Clem. It's better than the year she first came to us." Ruby said, then shuddered as though she were thinking about it. "I don't want to use the sleeping pills because those are for, er, short-term patients. The flower helps her better than the pills can."

Clem couldn't help looking around at her surroundings, but Violet wasn't anywhere to be seen. "What... was the first year like?" She asked, feeling closer to the truth.

"I used to share a dorm with her, but moved out pretty quick. Too many... sleeping difficulties, but I felt so bad for her." Ruby explained, adding another flower to the pile. "At first I just thought it was some severe PTSD, because that was the only thing she could be put in this place for."

"But it wasn't"  
"No. Before I moved dorms, sometimes she'd get up at night and shake me awake. She'd tell me she was having terrible nightmares. Other times, she was..."

Ruby paused, then frowned. "Well, she definitely fit the description of troubled youth."

Clementine's curiosity was piqued. "Other times?"

"Oh, yes. She'd act like a different person, say all kinds of crazy shit. It was like she was sleepwalking. Didn't even know her own body, thought of it like everything was new." Ruby picked up one of the Passion flowers and twirled it around in her fingers. "I don't know if she'd want me telling you this, but it was so weird because she looked so fully awake. When Vi fell asleep again she'd probably collapse on the floor; rarely she went back to bed. Poor thing was always too tired in the morning."

"Wow. Okay. So the flower really helps, then."  
"Yes. Odd little thing, but helpful."

Clem sat back up. "This was, well, enlightening."

Ruby turned herself towards Clementine. "I've got a favor to ask you, hon."

"Okay?"  
"Could you go find Vi for me? I don't want her to skip dinner. You might find her at the bell tower at this time of day."  
"Bell tower. Right."

Ruby pointed in the tower's direction and started sorting the herbs again.

Clem's brain was trying to piece everything together, but it was baffling. Violet didn't seem like the type to sleepwalk.

Under her boots, the pebbles crunched with a satisfying sound. The air was warm for mid-fall and the sky started darkening. The lively noise of the Ericson kids started fading away. Perhaps the lack of noise made this bell tower a popular hangout spot for Violet. Clem could understand that.

Inside the tower, there was no obvious path up. The building was in such disrepair that Clementine would have to climb if she wanted to reach the top.

She didn't mind, though. Ruby was counting on her. She started making an outline for the route upwards.

Suddenly, at the top, a head popped out to stare at Clem. Violet's blonde hair seemed to be recently cut, making it fluffier than when Clementine first saw her.

"Ruby sent you?"  
"Um, yeah?"

Vi made a slight noise that echoed down the tower and started down the stairs. Her movement was calm and rehearsed as she climbed down the walls and landed on the ground.

Clementine was a little taller but Violet was still intimidating with a glare sharper than any blade.

"Um, stupid question, but..."  
"I'm not going to murder you, no."

Clem almost laughed at that. "Oh, I wasn't really considering that option." She smiled. "I was just wondering if you hated me or something."

Violet gave her a funny look. "...Why?" She asked, arms crossed and chin tilted down. Her jade eyes avoided Clementine altogether.

"Huh? Why what?"  
"Why would I hate you?"

Clem chuckled nervously, though she wasn't sure why she was nervous. "Well, you just seem like you do." She answered. "Sorry...?"

"No, it's whatever." Violet muttered. "I get it." She brushed past Clementine and made her way back to where others would see them, know their conversations.

Clem whirled around and touched Violet's shoulder. "W-wait, no, I didn't mean it like I hated you."

Violet stopped and turned back to Clementine. The fading light cast shadows on her face, and she looked incredibly tired. "I get it, Clem. We're cool." She replied.

Clem was sort of amazed Violet wasn't shrugging away her hand.

"...We're... cool?"

"Yeah. I don't hate you, you don't hate me." Violet answered, touching her hand to Clem's. It was rather reassuring. "Try not to have your mind blown by the revelation." She added sarcastically.

Violet then turned around again and started moving to the courtyard.

However, Clementine's mind was, very unfortunately, blown.


	3. Deviance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lowkey short but I need to go to bed it's like six in the morning
> 
> Three 'oop's for my tired ass

The crickets were out already for tonight. Omar's cooking fire lit up the picnic tables around him with a fiery orange glow.

Violet was seated at a table with Louis, hunched over with her arms as a pillow. She looked a bit relaxed, at least. At another table, Mitch and Willy seemed to be messing with a contraption the former engineered. Ruby, Tenn, AJ, and Brody sat at the last table, engaged in conversation. Aasim sat at the love seat Clem had been during her talk with Ruby.

"She's fuzzy as a cactus, huh?" Marlon asked as Clem walked near Ericson's door. Omar's campfire cast a faint light to his acne-ridden face. "A little bit mean-spirited sometimes, even."

"She's not as social as some people." Clementine agreed. "But... not terrible."

Marlon smiled and nodded. "Yeah, guess so." He said. By his side, Rosie was sitting and watching the Ericson children carefully. "Cacti have water on the inside. Essential part of life. Vi's got skill that'll help keep us alive too."

Clem sighed and glanced at Rosie. "Yeah."

Marlon seemed to notice some kind of shift in energy. "A good, warm meal should help you recuperate. We've all worked hard today."

Clementine nodded and started walking again, past Marlon and into the school. "Mind if I lay down for a while?"

"Not at all. We'll call when the food's done."  
"Ok."

The hallways twisted and turned all the way to Clementine's dorm room, but she wasn't there for her room. Call her snoopy, but...

She was really curious about Violet's room.

Just a peek.

The door was marked with Violet's name. The wooden sign was a darker shade than the door, though, and the name was a bit hard to see. Clementine pushed against the door gently, and it gave way without fuss.

Violet's room was tidy, considering that she'd been here for so long. Perhaps she had to sacrifice a few things she had for firewood, perhaps? Or maybe she let other kids borrow them. Clem couldn't imagine her naturally having so little.

On one of the walls, there was a painting of a flower meadow, with dots of blue, white, purple, and yellow for the flowers. Trees in the distance. The sun setting in the background. Perhaps Vi made it. Clem liked it a lot.

Clementine didn't dare step into the room in case Violet could somehow tell and get angry with her. Her walls were the same bleached gray with white baseboards and whatnot. On her table, there was a single white candle, a lighter, and a jar of what looked to be water, though Clem wasn't sure why Violet would have it in a jar like that.

One of the bunk beds in her room was missing the top half, and little dots were painted on the ceiling as the same colors of the flowers in the meadow. The other bunk bed had a singular card on top of its sheets.

Clementine was intrigued but felt too scared to investigate further.

She returned to her own room, where she spotted a drawing on the desk that AJ must have made. It seemed to be a work in progress, as Clem couldn't figure out what it was no matter how long she stared at it. Maybe Rosie?

AJ would tell her in due time. She just needed to lay down right now.


	4. Gamble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Might be on hiatus for some time. Schedule and everything.

So about the night when Abel arrived at the old couple's house.

Clementine decided it was the only choice, because the traps Aasim had checked during the last fishing trips kept being sabotaged. So did the hunting traps. Marlon seemed fairly concerned when Brody reported the multiple sabotages.

So Clem got out a map of the forest surrounding Ericson, and she spotted the old couple's house in the bottom left corner. It was off limits, but there had been so much food and supplies there that the explosion (which Clem admitted was rather rude of the couple) couldn't have damaged all of it.

"You want to go out of the safe zone?" Louis squawked when Clementine offered that area as a potential food source. "Have you lost your damn head?"

Clem shrugged. "Obviously not, because I'm still alive."

"It's an expression, Clementine. A figure of speech." Lou shot back, readying his makeshift bat Chairles in case walkers were nearby. "I thought you were full of rational, logical thoughts like Violet here."

Vi was hunched over further away from them, looking almost too tired to stand up. Her expression was wolffish, but fatigue was surely gnawing away at her from the inside. From what Clem could tell, though, she hadn't been screaming last night.

Had she?

"If we're going to go there, we'll need a scheme to divert the walkers." Violet murmured just loud enough to hear. "And I think it's an okay plan, long as we get enough from the location."

Louis' jaw dropped. "Excuse me? You were supposed to back me up on this." He said dramatically. "Looks like you need to go to bed early tonight."

Violet seemed to curl into herself even further, though Clem couldn't see how it was humanly possible. She must've had a cat-like spine; Clementine read once that those had elastic or something between each vertebrae. She said nothing else, an eerie stillness enveloping her.

"Well, you heard 'rational, logical thoughts.' We should check out the place." Clem said, folding her map back up.

Up ahead on the trail to Ericson's Brody and Aasim looked worried. AJ was with them, but his expression was one of fierce determination.

"Bad news, everyone." Brody said, approaching the plotting trio. "We might not have enough food for full meals tonight." She closed her eyes and tried to breathe. "N-now I know it sounds terrible, b-but, really-"

Violet went over to the base of a tree and picked something up, quietly inspecting it at Brody kept talking. Clementine couldn't help but get distracted by her movement; she tuned out Brody's voice and tried to focus on Vi.

"No, there's something wrong here." Violet said to herself, but Clem could barely hear her because of Brody. "This place is dark soot. Spots of blue. It's not peaceful here at all."

Whatever the hell Violet meant, Clem decided she should stop being nosy and intruding on Vi's... er, she wasn't sure what it was. She didn't want to infringe on her privacy or something.

"...So, tonight's ration clear?" Brody asked, and everyone seemed to agree on it.

Late evening that night, Clementine, Louis, and Violet congregated to embark on the mystery-journey for the food. As soon as they went through the gate, AJ came up to them and asked to tag along too.

There was pale grass and a dirt road for about a mile, and then the road became overgrown with ground cover as far as Clementine could see. A mile or two and they'd be at that old couple's house.

The wind was blowing ominously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as long as I want it to be but fuck it's the only thing I can post right now


	5. Warned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon divergence time

Clementine couldn't imagine why the forest seemed to embrace so openly. She always assumed plants weren't sentient, but while walking through the washed out colors around her... she wondered if they could think and feel.

It was colder than normal tonight; Clem made AJ wear an extra jacket. She could hear him kicking rocks behind her. Louis commented on his technique from time to time. Violet was bringing up the back, silent as ever. Clementine would start worrying that she wasn't keeping up anymore, because she couldn't hear Vi's footsteps among all the leaf-trampling AJ was doing.

The old couple's house was ahead, looking as claustrophobic as ever. But, with a bit of work, Clementine could've probably made this place her home. There were empty cargo containers on one side. Somehow, she was reminded of a train station. Whatever it was, it had the promise of supplies.

Clementine crouched down just out of view from the walker heard crowding their path to food. Maybe more if the grenade she accidentally set off hadn't destroyed much. Violet and AJ seemed to be surveying the masses of undead, AJ as though a hawk would to mice. Vi's expression was grave and nigh unreadable.

"What's our plan?" AJ asked quietly, loading his handgun just in case. There couldn't possibly be enough bullets to kill the entire herd, let alone a fourth of it. They'd have to go in without guns a'blazing.

" _What_?" Louis whisper-yelled. "I thought y'all had a plan."

Clementine scowled. "Thanks for the input, Lou. That'll help." She answered. "We'll need a distraction, somebody will have to be separated from the rest. Someone else will look out for any incoming walkers outside that door, kill them if they can." Clem motioned to the cargo containers and then the house. "So we need something loud and mobile."

Violet slowly stood up, and pointed to the bell right by the herd. "If you want loud and mobile, we can use that." She said, then pointed to the cargo containers. "One of us will climb up on those and ring it as loud as they can. The rest of us sneak past the herd to the house."

Louis made an enlightened noise. "Smart plan. You're smart." He said. "Your collaborative powers are impressive."

"Great, then I vote you to be the distraction." Clementine said.

"Aye, me too." Violet added. "AJ?"

Absentmindedly, AJ nodded in agreement.

"Aw, man." Louis murmured. "Those impressive collaborative powers are too _strong_ against me." He stood up and slowly sneaked towards the bell. In truth, he seemed to be happy about not having to go inside that house.

Clementine waited until he got up in the containers and started ringing the bell to move, but AJ and Violet seemed to be staying put, the latter looking on into the distance with fear.

"Hey, what's wrong with you two?" Clem nudged AJ on the shoulder and he snapped back to attention, going down where the bell stood with a fierce gait.

Violet's gaze returned to Clementine and she shuddered. "I don't know. Something just seems like it'll go wrong if I go down there." She answered, a slight frown tugging at her lips. "I'll keep lookout right over here."

Clementine shrugged at this. Violet was being a bit weirder than usual, but she's learned that this is nothing new. But when Vi drew out her cleaver...

She decided it was the claustrophobia of the house, and followed AJ without a word.

Louis was a wonderful distraction. He kept asking the walkers to guess the song he played on the bell, but it must've been a tough crowd tonight. The herd kept groaning every time he rung the accursed object. All AJ and Clem had to do was kill off any of the stragglers that got too close to them- easy enough.

The house was the same as the last time Clem visited, except perhaps a little charred by the grenade exploding. The hatch bore some evidence of the incident. As soon as Clem flung it open, she was a bit taken aback by how much food had survived without damage.

She directed AJ to try and find any bags they could carry, and started taking out whatever was viable for consumption. Most of it was indeed food, but others were medicines stuffed into glass jars and labeled accordingly. Hardly anything seemed to have been destroyed.

Huh. Why was the grenade so powerful, then?

When Clementine reached down the hatch again for something else, she was almost surprised to feel solid walls against her fingers. Maybe AJ could look down there; he just returned with some duffle bags.

A few minutes have passed before Clementine hears somebody swiftly approaching, and they shut the door behind them.

"Cl-Clementine, somebody's here. Th-th- urk, the-" Violet panted, halfway delirious as she hoisted the duffel bags and hid them under a table close by. She started sliding things around so that there was a small space under the table, behind all the mattresses and boxes that seemed to leave nothing for a person.

Clementine understood. Somebody was coming up to the house, and it probably wasn't Louis.

"G-get in." Violet stammered, pushing AJ under there first. Then she grabbed Clem by the arm and tried to stuff her under there as well.

"Woah, woah," Clem replied, trying to make Vi calm down. "You should go first. You're smaller."

Violet shook her head stubbornly and managed to get Clementine under the table with AJ before sealing them in with an old mattress. It smelled rather musty behind the damn thing, and it was way too dark to really see anything.

Clem could hear light steps going to the middle of the room, and somebody- probably the stranger- opened the door. They had a gun, cocked it and supposedly aimed it at Violet.

"Hey, girlie." The stranger had a masculine voice, slimy and so obviously predatory in nature. Clementine almost shivered from where she hid. She wished Violet had gone under the table before her.

Violet didn't say anything. She might've taken a step backwards, or did something the stranger didn't like, because he fired a shot. Probably a warning; sounded like it went through wood and Violet didn't make a sound.

"You won't move unless I tell you to, right?" The stranger asked, walking up to where Violet was standing. His steps were slow and methodical. He lit a lighter and took a drag of something, then started coughing.

Clementine could hear Violet swallow nervously. "Y-you're the one who raided the traps." She said. "Yo-you've got d-dark gray and blue all over you."

"Girl, I don't particularly care about what colors I may or may not be." The stranger replied. "It looks like you've got food in that hidey-hatch of yours. Why don't you go sit up on that table over there?"

Violet went up to the table Clementine and AJ were hiding under, and sat somewhere on the right side of it. She was doing an amazing job. Clem wished she could send some good vibes her way or something.

The stranger started rummaging through the various things in the hatch. "So, girl. What's your name?"

Violet paused, then sighed. "Julia." She lied.

"Hm. Julia, now." The stranger repeated. "You remind me of somebody at the school nearby. His name was Marlon. He your brother or something?"

"No...?" Violet answered, sounding perfectly confused.

The sound of a bag unzipping jolted Clementine awake, but she remembered that most of the duffel bags were right beside AJ. Maybe Violet forgot an empty one or something.

"Well, Julia, I'm the one who raided those traps, yes. But obviously, there's so much in them things that I figured those school kids didn't need all of it."  
"I-I think they're a bit upset by your actions."  
"You ain't one of them, are you?"  
"No."

The stranger zipped up the bag again. "Hm. My name's Abel, but you'll probably never see me again. All I want is some dinner..."

The stranger- his name was Abel- walked up to the table and paused. He must've been right in front of Violet. He stood there for a few moments, then tutted. "Nah. Too skinny." He said, then walked out of the room. 

He took about half a minute to leave, he might've had trouble walking. The door was shut behind him.

Violet barely made a sound for a few more solid minutes, then sighed. "Okay." She said to herself. Or maybe it was to Clem and AJ.

She walked to the middle of the room again. Clementine was going to come out from the spot but Vi started making a weird, almost-scream. It made Clem's blood pressure go through the roof.

"Oh, fuck. Where...?" Violet asked, but it wasn't really her voice. Something about it was off. "Jeez. This must be a dream."

Violet paused and then huffed. "Ow. Not a dream... so where in the he-hell-?"

AJ kicked the box in front of him, unblocking himself from behind that and the mattress. He aimed his gun at Violet, which was concerning. "Stop pretending to be-"

Violet turned to face AJ, eyes glassy like she was dead. "Hosting?" She asked confusedly.

Then she collapsed.


	6. Rescuers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also known as Took Longer Than Expected
> 
> Might get another chapter up sometime this weekend

As soon as Violet's body made contact with the floor, Clementine practically acquired tunnel vision. She was crouched by Violet with only one coherent thought in her mind: get everyone out of here ASAP.

AJ was behind Clem and still had his gun aimed towards Violet. "Is she dead? Is she going to turn? I liked her, I'll put her out of her misery as fast-"

"AJ, no," Clementine answered. "She's still breathing, she still has a pulse."

AJ clicked his handgun and checked the bullets on the chamber. "Oh, well. Good, because I only have enough for three walkers."

The door to the house opened again, but instead of Abel appearing, it was Louis. He saw the scene and was distraught at what he found. "Oh... my god. Is she...?" He started towards the group and took in his surroundings quickly.

"She's alive... she just, I dunno, collapsed into the floor." Clem explained. She then rose up and retrieved the duffel bags under the table, ignoring the dizziness she had induced for herself. "Lou, you can carry Violet, right?"

Louis made a noise, something in between a snort and a groan. "Well, yeah, but then I'm also going to have to carry lots of bags. You've got like five of them there." He replied.

"I don't fucking care. Just carry Violet of you need to, we need to get her out of here." Clem snapped. "Piggyback ride, bridal style, get a goddamn wheelbarrow and use that, whatever you need to do. Just make sure you don't drop her." She handed AJ one of the lightest bags, which he wore like a satchel.

Louis considered this and shrugged, picking up Violet's unconscious body and slung her over his shoulder. She was the world's most fragile potato sack right now. "We shouldn't run, should we? I'd hate to hurt her as much as you do, Clem." Louis picked up a duffel bag in his other hand and shouldered that too.

"Okay. We'll jog or something. Just don't give her a concussion if you can handle that."

AJ nodded. "Yeah, no concu... uh..." He paused and tried to remember the word. "Um, no head injuries."

Louis sighed at being instructed so thoroughly. "I just wish she told me why she collapses like this so regularly. It can't be iron deficiency, can it?"

"She collapses regularly?" Clementine asked.

Lou didn't reply and nudged the door open with his foot. AJ went ahead, aiming down his sights like the SWAT teams that were in the old world.

Clem felt like she had handled the situation pretty well, but she still worried about Violet. Why did she act so different after Abel left? What the fuck was that scene? How did flowers and sleep have anything to do with that possession-like behavior she exhibited?

... _Was_ it possession?

The undead were far away, Clementine could tell because she couldn't hear any unfamiliar footsteps. Louis had taken care of them, somehow. The ghostly tones of the forest were around her again, enclosing her in some kind of security.

They'd probably be at Ericson's in twenty minutes.

The walk through hauntingly beautiful nature such as this made Clem recall the days where she was tracking down AJ. Hundreds, maybe thousands or tens of thousands of miles, riding on horseback through the woods. She was always looking out for walkers, yes, but it was peaceful and scenic.

She decided that, whether or not the forest was sentient, she loved it.

-

Ericson was visible now in the distance, even though Louis was slowing down.

"Ugh, I just walked four or five miles for this weird, lovable dork." Louis groaned. "She better give me something, like, really cool for saving her ass."

Clementine thought about it. "Maybe she can paint you a pretty picture, and you'll be the Mona Lisa of the post-apocalypse." She sighed.

Louis shook his head. "No, painting was Sophie's thing. Violet was more into photography than anything else. She once told me that the world was too cool not to take photos." He then glanced at her, but it was more like he was looking at her boots. "But maybe she can paint me an epic portrait with some awesome shiny sunglasses."

AJ was ahead of Louis and Clem and was waiting for them to catch up. "Can I have one too? I want awesome sunglasses."

Louis chuckled and nodded. "I will make sure she paints us both."

"Well, has she ever made you make something for her when she saved your ass?" Clem pointed out.

Lou rolled his eyes and heaved a theatrical sigh. "Many worldly possessions are cumbersome to her, I suppose." He answered, obviously trying to sound ominous.

"But did she?"  
"No, I guess not. She did ask me to play a song once but that was... uh, after the Minerva and Sophie incident."  
"Minerva and Sophie? Incident?"  
"Twin sisters. Tenn's sisters, yeah. Died to the walkers, and Vi's never been the same since."

Clementine fell silent and focused on walking. Her arms were starting to get tired from carrying the bags for so long, but this was for Ericson. She might as well help out the food situation, since she was living here for now.

The gate to the boarding school was just about fifteen feet away. Clementine felt a sense of pride that she was bringing so much food here. She had no idea why.

Willy and Aasim were at the lookout post, and Aasim pointed the pair out, saying something that Clementine couldn't understand. When the group approached the gates they opened for them.

The wind blew again and chilled Clementine to the core, like a grave omen.


	7. Memorable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope everybody knows where this is going as soon as they read this.
> 
> I think I've made it very, very obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a warning
> 
> There are depictions of gore, some disturbing imagery, and concepts of suicide in this chapter. If you can't handle any of these things, perhaps you should skip to the next chapter.
> 
> (At least, when it's out.)

Violet saw her grandmother.

Her grandmother, the one who gave her the curse she was born with. The one who made her weird. She loved grandma to death and the afterlife beyond, but she couldn't help but feel bitter, because it was grandma's fault that she was always screaming.

This was the night. September 22nd, 8:30 p.m., and that night grandma propped the gun and poked it with the backscratcher. Violet saw her ghost floating from her, as though blood was being drained from gouged eyes. It overflowed from her eye sockets and ran down her face like luminescent tears.

Those tears pooled at the bottom of her rocking chair and started to configure itself into a single familiar shape.

Violet watched and she was almost fascinated. Grandma always sounded like she was talking to grandpa, even though he had died a few years earlier. Violet couldn't hear or see him. That's what she thought, though sometimes he would tell her stories about his childhood in her dreams. The next day she could tell her grandma something and remember hours later that he'd never told her that while he lived.

Violet saw her grandmother's ghost for a few moments, and then the ghost was gone. It vanished from thin air. Violet could only look at grandma's corpse, stare at the hole she blew in her chest. She studied the firearm grandma used. It felt rather surreal to remember so much from that one night.

Everything melted as Violet could hear police sirens in the distance.

Now she was in her home, the trailer that hadn't been cleaned for over a year. Dishes stacked next to the sink, covered in grime because dad had left with Violet's brother and her mom was never home. Violet was never home either. She was always out at the hiking trails and campsites. It beat the bland, gray walls of this hunk of metal.

Mom's door was closed. But mom's door was always opened. Violet hadn't been here for a month. She doesn't sleep her if she can help it. The camp cabins for the employees are so much better. They let her stay because she was in training to be a park ranger. Never asked questions about her home life, so there was no way anyone could call her Trailer Trash.

Violet knew what was going to happen, but everything about this place was seeped to the bone in dread.

And this was the first time she noticed that everything was so colorful.

It's December 13th, 7:44 p.m.

This was the day that Violet walked into her mom's room, and saw that mom's brains were splattered on the wall behind her. Her corpse sat with her legs crossed, like in a yoga position. Mom's head was blasted off and Violet could see into what was left of her skull. Blood, lots of it, everywhere on the walls. Violet noticed cuts on her mother's arms.

There was a shotgun that was halfway in her hand. Violet was reminded of her grandmother way too much. She saw that mom was green but too pale to be alive.

There was no ghost this time. Mom must've been dead for quite awhile, because from what Violet could tell there was no trace of her ghost anywhere. And there were flies swarming what was left of her head.

No notes, nothing that seemed to be left for anyone who stumbled onto mom.

Even though Violet had never called the police, she could still hear their sirens.

-

Violet was on a bed. It felt like her bed. Her head hurt like hell. Even though she might've been out for awhile, her eyelids were still heavy.

She opened her eyes and it was nighttime. Louis was sitting on the other bunk bed in the room. Clementine was sitting by him, and AJ was also sitting.

"Hey, look, she's waking up."

Louis? Was that Louis? Vi barely felt like sitting up. She turned her head to look at the trio, to let them know she was indeed awake.

In the corner, Violet could feel a twinge. Something in her gut told her that there was a ghost there. It was pale blue, like if the entire ocean could freeze over, it'd be that color.

That was Sophie. She was always in that corner. Violet got the feeling that Sophie was watching over her, and that was a comforting feeling.

"Violet, are you okay? What was that back there?" Clementine asked. She was some kind of deep, desaturated color. Violet couldn't imagine how many people she killed to become so grayish.

Violet couldn't speak, she felt trapped without any words to convey what she wanted to answer with. It was a garbled, auric language and Vi almost uttered complete nonsense for a reply.

She turned her head again, this time away from them. "I'm gonna go back to bed."

"No you're not." Louis answered sassily. "I carried you all the way here, I'd like some answers from you."

Violet sighed. "Thank you, Lou, but really. I can't answer anything right now. I'll explain it to you when I can, though." She said. "I promise."

Before anyone could even say anything to her, she blacked out.


	8. Prophesied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA Proof of Life
> 
> This took way too long to write, even though it's very short. Sorry, the next chapter might take awhile

Clementine had always thought that mediums were the stuff of legends. Typically, nobody ever saw one unless something terrible was coming to their residence. Tsunamis and hurricanes came to the doorsteps of cities and villages, but this was always preceded by a warning from whom the religious figures sought to destroy.

But Violet hadn't seemed like the stuff of legends. She was ordinary, tired, screaming Violet. Clem thought that there had to be some misunderstanding, right?

Vi didn't just have her eyes roll into the back of her head like that, right?

Louis was screaming. AJ looked ready to bench Violet- or rather, the shell she used to be- into next week.

"WE ARE ALL TRAPPED," said Violet, but it certainly wasn't Violet because she never shouted at the top of her lungs. "WE WILL NEVER BE FREE BECAUSE OF THE GRAY ONES." Her eyes were glassy and her jaw went slack.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." Louis looked shaken by the words she spoke. "She's fucking possessed."

Violet's eyes were still rolled like that, but some sinister, ghostly blue rings appeared where her irises should've been. "You are warned." She answered.

She promptly collapsed again.

Clementine walked up to her, and listened to her wheezing breaths for a few moments. She sighed.

"What the fuck." Louis said flatly.

"Yeah, what the fuck?" AJ echoed.

"Language, goofball."  
"Sorry, Clem."

They stood in silence, the quiet aura of Violet seeping into their bones.

Finally, Louis piped up again. "You think she's gonna wake up soon?"

Clem shrugged. "She can be out for days, I'm not a doctor." She answered.

Clem noticed that AJ was staring at Vi weird.

"You okay, goofball?"  
"She's drowned in indigo."  
"I expected violet because of her name, but... okay?"  
"But she also has a lot of red."  
"I have no idea what you're saying."  
"It gets split in half in her head... and then it looks fuzzy. She's sad."

Clementine didn't reply.

"She's very sad, always sad." AJ went on. "Something makes her sad all the time. Do you know what it could be?"

"Trauma, maybe." Clem offered. "I don't doubt that she's been through a lot."

AJ nodded. "Trauma."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters might get a little slower to upload, because I'm gonna be writing another fanfic. I hope I haven't gotten bored of this fic already. If I do go inactive, I'm sorry.
> 
> Life + Writer's Block = No Inspo, 
> 
> quick maths


	9. Hollowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more proof of life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to confirm this: Sophie is/was also a medium, but Minerva was not
> 
> This got a little Vi x Soph, if you squint with both eyes closed. Also kinda short

Violet woke up again in the dead of night.

It felt as though it were a dream. She could still se Sophie in the corner of the room, an ever-present spirit in a somewhat friendly manner.

Violet slowly switched her senses around, letting everything shift from regular sight to a more auric plane. It felt warm. That was Sophie's doing.

"It's around midnight." Sophie muttered, obviously directed to Violet, but she had no body to convey a body language. It could be hard to tell who ghosts were talking to sometimes.

Violet nodded. "I got that, Soph." She said, looking up and seeing no ceiling. The positioning of the stars- spherical concentrations of energy, with the power to create and destroy. Vi could tell the time with the stars at night, and she guessed it was from her curse. "...How are Clem and Lou?"

"They went to their rooms." Sophie answered, floating around back and forth with a sort of aloofness. "Were you hoping that they'd still be here?"

Violet shook her head. "It'd be dumb if I did." She muttered. "I did tell them that I'd be going back to sleep, I must've been out for a long, long time. A day, maybe."

"A day and four hours." Sophie said, and started drifting to another corner of the room. "Should we paint?" She asked.

Vi shrugged. "I don't see why not." Her boots clunked on the wooden floor, and the chair made that horrible wood-against-wood sound that it always makes. She sat down and took out some of the painting supplies she kept.

Sophie's ghost drifted close to Violet, as though she were looking over her shoulder. Then her blue light disappeared.

Vi sat up completely for once, feeling her spine cracking a little as Sophie made her straighten it out. "First of all," Sophie said in a disembodied sort of voice. It was all in Violet's head, of course; nobody would hear Sophie unless they were also cursed. "Fix your goddamn posture, Violet. I keep telling you and you never listen."

The blonde-haired teen offered Sophie a helpless smile. "It's a habit." She answered, reaching for a small graphite pencil. Sophie used Vi's other hand to grab for a canvas. It was sort of useful in that way; she gave half of her body controls to Soph, and that was how they painted together.

Violet was still learning to paint, with her deceased friend teaching her. Vi could feel every even brush stroke that Sophie made, which, when her right hand wasn't in use, was actually very calming. Her hands were only ever steady when Sophie was controlling them.

"So, Clementine." Sophie said as she started sketching out the inside of a bejeweled cave. "Who is she?"

Violet sighed. "A stranger, she's only been here for a few days She means well most of the time, but she's very... gray. I think she's killed a lot of people." She replied.

"How many people do you think she's killed?"  
"Hmm... at least five or six."  
"That's not a lot."  
"Well, she still has a bit of color. But gray always means death, we both learned that the hard way."

Sophie said nothing else and continued to draw with Violet.

And Violet started to check out, letting Sophie take all of the controls. She let her mind shut off for an hour or two.


End file.
